Game 36 - The Bantams (A)

Team: Bradford City

Date: 02/03/2024

Where: Valley Parade

What line-up should Stuart Maynard opt for? What will be the key areas for the Magpies to get a victory? What do you think the final score will be?

Have your say below, join in with the Pride of Nottingham match discussion.

Any clue how many tickets Notts have sold?

We need a win... 

It’ll be just like Notts to go and win this just when we are expecting the worse.

I would put Slocombe back between the sticks, I’m not blaming the young keeper for last night but I think with the defence being so shaky we need experience in there.

The only way to get out of this is if the players stick together, I’d send out the same team apart from in goal and let them make amends with at least a good performance if not a win.

We are still scoring goals so I would play a similar formation that we had against Sutton 

The key areas never change. Our defence and attack. Stuart just needs to get the balance correct in those two vital areas.

Slocombe to return between the sticks. If Warner remains injured it has to be Macari, Cameron and Brindley as the back three with Nemane and Jones as Wing backs.

Robertson, Bostock & Crowley in midfield with Jatta supporting Langstaff up front.

My instruction for our defence, play it safe, if in doubt kick it out.

At this stage I would just get the players to play the formation they are most comfortable with. 

For these last 12 games, just go for the win every time, put our opponents under pressure, & just try to score goals 

Only at the end of the season look to change personnel and change the system and shape, because the present squad can only play one way.

Hoping for a win,  but probably will be a score draw or high scoring defeat.

 

According to the form table for the last 7 games, Notts are 23rd. Only Grimsby are worse off. Bradford haven't conceded a goal in their last 4 league games. They beat Wrexham away. Crushed the fake Dons 4-0 at home and beat Sutton at home. They are in a far better position than us. As bad as Tuesday was, I expect it to get even worse on Saturday. I can only foresee a heavy defeat. I hope I'm wrong.....

2 hours ago, Dripsey3 said:

According to the form table for the last 7 games, Notts are 23rd. Only Grimsby are worse off. Bradford haven't conceded a goal in their last 4 league games. They beat Wrexham away. Crushed the fake Dons 4-0 at home and beat Sutton at home. They are in a far better position than us. As bad as Tuesday was, I expect it to get even worse on Saturday. I can only foresee a heavy defeat. I hope I'm wrong.....

If Notts had been in this position just 4 points from a playoff place most Notts supporters would have took it.

we are not out of the picture yet with the great forward line we have.

WE need to get behind Stuart and the team starting at Bradford on Saturday.

It’s tough to predict when our next victory will occur, but it can’t come soon enough. Bradford has made significant progress since our last encounter, but Notts must disregard recent performance and use it as a learning experience. If we want to prevent losing another manager, which would be an additional setback, this is the match that can demonstrate to the fans that their support is both valued and necessary. Regrettably, I foresee a draw, 2-2, due to our tendency to concede too easily.

 

Pressure will be on both teams, Notts to stop the defeats from coming in and Bradford to maintain their form. Usually, I would believe this would make it likely to be a draw but both teams defences are of error. I am hoping Notts can just quietly go about their game, creating chances and preventing any opportunities which may fall Bradford's way. I won't be tuning in, I feel there's an element of guaranteed defeat when I do.

I wasn't that hopeful against Newport County, as they can play their game similar to how Crewe beat us, and we were away then too.

I think going into the game with little expectation and more hope, might just be a good thing. I would love to see comments coming in about how we played some great attacking football and managed to get a good result. I suppose we'll have to wait and see, it's going to be more difficult for us considering the uphill battle we are currently facing. I hope the players do well for Stuart Maynard's sake.

 

Match is going ahead, with no plans for a further inspection.

 

I have low expectations for this game, but you never know. Notts are more than capable of surprising us.

Keep it basic, work hard and play with your heart.

COYP!

The Match has been postponed.

Another late postponement.

So sorry for our supporters who have made the trip 

 

The match is postponed. ☹️

I feel sorry for the fans who travelled to Bradford. It's probably a blessing in disguise. It gives SM time to sort out the mess we are in.

 

I had doubts about this going head today given the current state of Bradford's pitch, so it's a real shame to all those who travelled for nothing.

Do they play rugby league there or do they train on it in the week or something? I can't understand how a pitch that is used weekly can get into such a state.

17 hours ago, menzinho said:

I had doubts about this going head today given the current state of Bradford's pitch, so it's a real shame to all those who travelled for nothing.

Do they play rugby league there or do they train on it in the week or something? I can't understand how a pitch that is used weekly can get into such a state.

I think I’d sack the ground staff. ????

Doesn't that make you thankful for the excellent ground staff that we have? I don't know if Bradford have pitch covers, but they can't have done much. I have been in this situation, where I have travelled and got close to the ground for it to be called off. It's frustrating, but hopefully fans salvaged the day. I know some people went on to watch other local games, obviously making do of the situation.

Ideally, it will lead to us being a bit more prepared for our next match.

What a complete farce that was, I feel sorry for everyone who had a wasted trip. Some decided to see Bradford Park Avenue instead. Pretty telling that their pitch was OK yet City's wasn't. The moment I saw the Valley Parade pitch I knew it wasn't playable, and it probably hadn't been for quite some time. So what were the officials doing?

I'm not sure I'd blame the ground staff though. A few weeks ago a German cup tie at Saarbrücken was postponed at the last minute (with the teams in the tunnel and all the stands full!) and their pitch looked identical to Bradford's. Saarbrücken recently had their ground rebuilt, and because the costs had spiralled, the council decided to save money on drainage. Maybe Bradford have drainage issues too. If the water's standing on the pitch every time there's a bit of rainfall, there's only so much the ground staff can do...

But whatever the reasons, that doesn't change the fact that postponing a game so late is an absolute outrage.

I’m afraid it was the correct decision, but it should have been taken sooner. The quality of their pitch never seemed adequate enough to pass a pitch inspection. I’ve seen numerous photos, all of which gave me the impression that the decision could have been made earlier. Regrettably, it was still not early enough to prevent Notts fans from travelling to Bradford, but it wouldn’t have been so close to the kick-off time before it was made.

So this postponed match is  going to be played on Tuesday the 19th of March in a few days time. 

CMON U PIES!

Soooooo...  what do people think???

I think he will go more or less with the team that played against Crawley, although Chicksen went down with the same illness as Crowley had last Tuesday, so may not be available and Jatta may have a tweak (if I understood the post match interview).  I think the best we can manage is:

Slocombe

Macari

Cameron

Chicksen (or Warner if ill)

Robertson (wasn't his a 1 match ban? If not then Bostock)

O'Brian

Nemane

Jones

Crowley

Jatta (if fit) or Austin

Langstaff

Subs:  Bostock, Austin, Ashby-Hammond, Warner(?), Randall, Colkett, Rawlinson, (McGoldrick, Gill or Sanderson depending on who is ill / suspended)

 

I would be tempted to give Langstaff a break and play Jatta on his own up front, but I don't think he will do that and I can see Jatta on the bench again if he has a slight knock (much to the dismay of many),   We need to stop dropping off when we score, if we could get 2 or 3 up then I think we would see a different Notts towards the back end of games.  We seem to become a bag of nerves in the second half as we try to hang on to a lead.  

Bradford were awful against Mansfield and Mansfield weren't even in top gear. Either Bradford will come out fighting or they are completely demoralized. I think Notts will win 5-4. 

If we take the game to them like we did in the first half of the home fixture, we'll win. If we let them come at us like we did in the second half that day, we'll lose.

Right now we're a bag of nerves and the manager still hasn't found his best team, but I've got my optimistic hat on so I'll go for a narrow 7-5 win, the goals coming from Randall (3), Slocombe, Palmer, Bajner and Stallard.

Jatta looks like he will be fit to play so I would give him a start.

I just want Notts to go for it once again. They must play to their strength which is attacking football.

A win would be great but avoiding defeat would still be a reasonable result at this point 

I'd like to see Macaulay back on the score sheet too.